Los Angeles (March 9, 2013)— Creighton forward Doug McDermott is one of 15 finalists named to the John R. Wooden Award Ballot, it was announced today by The Los Angeles
Athletic Club on ESPN College GameDay. Selected by the Wooden Award
National Advisory Board, the ballot is made up of 15 student-athletes
who are eligible for college basketball’s most prestigious honor. All
balloted players have proven to their universities that they are making
progress toward graduation and are maintaining at least a cumulative 2.0
GPA. The Women’s ballot will be released
next week.

McDermott is the only player on this year’s
ballot who was a Wooden Award All American in 2012. He is the nation’s
No. 2 scorer, at 23.4 ppg, and has taken the Bluejays to a 25-7 record
to date this season.

The Wooden Award All American Team, consisting of the nation’s top 10
players, will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round of the
NCAA Tournament. The John R. Wooden Award Player of the Year presented
by Wendy’s will be announced on ESPN during
the Final Four Weekend in Atlanta. The 2013 Wooden Award Gala presented
by Wendy’s will take place April 11-13, 2013, at The Los Angeles
Athletic Club. The Gala will honor the Men's and Women's Wooden Award
winners, All Americans and the Legends of Coaching
Award winner, Kansas Head Coach Bill Self.

Among the student-athletes chosen to the Wooden Award ballot were
three players who did not make the Midseason Top 25: Gonzaga’s Kelly
Olynyk, Indiana’s Victor Oladipo, and Miami’s Shane Larkin. Other
notable selections include the nation’s top scorer, Erick
Green of Virginia Tech (25.0 ppg), and three freshmen: Anthony Bennett
of UNLV, redshirt freshman Ben McLemore of Kansas, and Oklahoma State’s
Marcus Smart.

Indiana (Oladipo and Cody Zeller) and Kansas (McLemore and Jeff
Withey), both ranked in the Associated Press Top 5 this week, were the
only programs with more than one player selected to the ballot. In terms
of conferences, the Big Ten had four selections,
followed by the ACC and Big 12 each with three. The Big East, Mountain
West, Missouri Valley Conference, The Summit League, and the WCC had one
balloted player each to round out the 15 players chosen. Voting will
take place from March 18th through March 25th,
allowing voters to account for the first weekend of competition in the
NCAA Tournament.

About the John R. Wooden Award

Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award is the most prestigious
individual honor in college basketball. It is bestowed upon the
nation’s best player at an institution of higher education who has
proven to his or her university that he or she is making
progress toward graduation and maintaining a minimum cumulative 2.0
GPA. Previous winners include such notables as Larry Bird (’79),
Michael Jordan (’84), Tim Duncan (’97), Candace Parker (’07 and ’08),
Kevin Durant (’09) and Maya Moore of Connecticut (’09
and ‘11). Kentucky freshman Anthony Davis won the men’s Award in 2012.

Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed close
to a million dollars to universities’ general scholarship fund in the
names of the All American recipients. The Award has also sent more than
1,000 underprivileged children to week-long
college basketball camps in the Award’s name. Additionally, the John
R. Wooden Award partners with Special Olympics Southern California
(SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern
California Basketball Tournament. The day-long tournament,
which brings together Special Olympic athletes and the All Americans,
takes place at The Los Angeles Athletic Club the weekend of the John R.
Wooden Award Gala.